Advice for running my movies off Apple TV, Hard Drive, etc.

[The.316]

So Im a novice when it comes to all the possibilites with in-home media playing. I have the following:

Samsung 4k TV
4k Apple TV
PS4 Pro
4TB External HD connected to TV (500 movies and TV shows on it)

What are my options? I currently am just running my Apple TV and the HD through the TVs HDMI port and USB port. The HD has 4k movies copied to it btw. I dont know what to do. Do I, or can I, connect my HD to my router, and stream everything wirelessly? Should I run the HD through my iMac, and stream it that way? Or should I just keep it set up the way it is, and be done with it. I just dont know if Im utilizing everything I have its maximum ability.

 

[Longkeg]

Do I, or can I, connect my HD to my router, and stream everything wirelessly?

No. Out of the box the ATV4K can only stream content from a computer through iTunes. If your movies aren't iTunes compatible you'll have problems. How are your movies formatted? There are other 3rd party solutions to stream video from your iMac: Plex (free) and Infuse (not free) immediately come to mind.

Or should I just keep it set up the way it is, and be done with it.

If it works I wouldn't mess with it yet. Your current setup will work fine but restricts your playback on only the one TV. A central server, which is what your iMac would be in this case, would let you stream content to multiple ATVs on your network. As you gain experience with the ATV you'll inevitably find yourself trying to tweet it For most people those tweets eventually lead to Infuse (plays virtually any video codec, one app installed on the ATV pointed to your iMac, yearly subscription fee) or Plex (Free, Apps installed on both ATV and iMac, plays all codecs but uses the iMac CPU to do the conversions). Both have websites. Google them and check them out.

 

[waw74]

take a look at Plex

you would plug the hard drive into your Mac, and then it would stream the files to the aTV.

your Mac will have to be awake

It will give you a Netflix like experience, with actors and plot summaries.

you can also add TV shows. It will allow streaming outside of your house (depending on your connection) you can share your library with your friends, and they can watch your movies anywhere with net.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

If by "options," you are looking for a way to play movies on all 3 devices, I think the suggestions for Plex is probably a win. I know Plex runs on all 3 devices. So that should give you maximum flexibility. If both TV and PS4 link to that 1 TV, then you don't necessarily need that flexibility as getting movies working with just TV would have you using TV to display movies on the TV (and PS4 can remain as mostly the gaming box).

The key question is already asked: are the movies TV-formated. Drop the 500 in iTunes (turning off the option to copy them to the internal drive so it leaves them on that external) and then start clicking through all of them to see if they'll play well. If so, you are probably done. Enjoy the 500 in the "computers" app on your TV.

If some-to-all of them don't play well in iTunes, you can either reformat them (Handbrake or similar) or adopt Plex or Infuse and see if it can handle them.

As to "maximum ability," there's no great benefit to making anything work some other way in your description. If you are happily enjoying your movies "as is" now, they won't play better if you instead play them through one of the other pieces of hardware. Do you have a better sound system hooked up to something else? If so, that's a good reason to get them playing through something else. Do you want to be able to play the movies on another TV or other screens in the house? That might be a reason to get them into iTunes or similar. Otherwise, I'm not reading something to make me think you need to do anything different. The gain is not apparent from the description. If the movie playback is already working fine, you are already "maximized."

 

[Andrewtst]

Just use Infuse and login to Plex client. This method let you play all movies in your 4TB HDD directly without need of transcode the movie.

Why Infuse because infuse direct play all movies without transcode.

Why I need Plex as client since Infuse so good, because using Plex let me do a very nice meta data matching for the movies description and cover photo.

 

[mwd25]

As others have mentioned, Plex, Plex and Plex. Going through the trouble of loading everything into Itunes is a waste as Apple tv plus itunes isnt really the best option for personal media. I have Plex with a tv tuner connected, so it puts all options in one place. I can go into Plex and have all my movies, with movie trailer and description all loaded up and organized. I have all tv shows organized with episode descriptions, artwork show theme song even, ready to go. My entire music collection with playlists and plex will make custom radio stations with your music, also all artwork etc. More still.....all my pictures can be loaded, on demand channels like PBS, BBC FOX can be accessed, free. Podcasts are available oh and there is a built in DVR to record tv from your tv tuner. Can record two show at once play pause live tv etc. So you dont need to leave plex if you want to watch tv after playing your own media. Then only thing that you could possibly want more is being able to access Netflix, Amazon, streaming without having to leave app. Still need more? You have access to everything I just mentioned from anywhere. Plex app on pc, or ios and a internet connection and your good to go. You can download any of your media right onto your phone for offline viewing and share partial or entire library with other users.
So if I go to my Mothers and want to watch a movie or tv show, I can just log into my account on her roku (or ATV) and I have my entire library. Same with my sisters house. My sister was at my moms last week and they wanted to watch Better Call Saul. I shared my library with her, and she was good to go.
Simply the best option for large media collections out there.

 

[The.316]

If by "options," you are looking for a way to play movies on all 3 devices, I think the suggestions for Plex is probably a win. I know Plex runs on all 3 devices. So that should give you maximum flexibility. If both TV and PS4 link to that 1 TV, then you don't necessarily need that flexibility as getting movies working with just TV would have you using TV to display movies on the TV (and PS4 can remain as mostly the gaming box).

The key question is already asked: are the movies TV-formated. Drop the 500 in iTunes (turning off the option to copy them to the internal drive so it leaves them on that external) and then start clicking through all of them to see if they'll play well. If so, you are probably done. Enjoy the 500 in the "computers" app on your TV.

If some-to-all of them don't play well in iTunes, you can either reformat them (Handbrake or similar) or adopt Plex or Infuse and see if it can handle them.

As to "maximum ability," there's no great benefit to making anything work some other way in your description. If you are happily enjoying your movies "as is" now, they won't play better if you instead play them through one of the other pieces of hardware. Do you have a better sound system hooked up to something else? If so, that's a good reason to get them playing through something else. Do you want to be able to play the movies on another TV or other screens in the house? That might be a reason to get them into iTunes or similar. Otherwise, I'm not reading something to make me think you need to do anything different. The gain is not apparent from the description. If the movie playback is already working fine, you are already "maximized."

Im actually happy with the way it is set up right now, I was just wondering if there was another way to go. I have a iMac, MB, iPhone, PS4, TV, and my external drive. TBH, I do not use the iMac all that much. Its in my room, and I spend most of my time in the living room, where I have the TV, PS4, external HD connected to my TV, with my laptop next to my couch. I had a 3rd gen TV, and upgraded to the latest one, mainly cause I thought I would get better quality from the NHL.tv app on the new one. Most of my movies are mkv format, with the rest mp4 format (very few). I dont want the need to have my iMac awake to watch movies.

I also live alone in a one bedroom apartment, with my iMac in the bedroom, and everything else in the living room, so I dont have another tv to play.

As others have mentioned, Plex, Plex and Plex. Going through the trouble of loading everything into Itunes is a waste as Apple tv plus itunes isnt really the best option for personal media. I have Plex with a tv tuner connected, so it puts all options in one place. I can go into Plex and have all my movies, with movie trailer and description all loaded up and organized. I have all tv shows organized with episode descriptions, artwork show theme song even, ready to go. My entire music collection with playlists and plex will make custom radio stations with your music, also all artwork etc. More still.....all my pictures can be loaded, on demand channels like PBS, BBC FOX can be accessed, free. Podcasts are available oh and there is a built in DVR to record tv from your tv tuner. Can record two show at once play pause live tv etc. So you dont need to leave plex if you want to watch tv after playing your own media. Then only thing that you could possibly want more is being able to access Netflix, Amazon, streaming without having to leave app. Still need more? You have access to everything I just mentioned from anywhere. Plex app on pc, or ios and a internet connection and your good to go. You can download any of your media right onto your phone for offline viewing and share partial or entire library with other users.
So if I go to my Mothers and want to watch a movie or tv show, I can just log into my account on her roku (or ATV) and I have my entire library. Same with my sisters house. My sister was at my moms last week and they wanted to watch Better Call Saul. I shared my library with her, and she was good to go.
Simply the best option for large media collections out there.

Does my iMac need to be running in order for Plex to work?


I appreciate all the help guys. This stuff is all still a bit new to me.

 

[priitv8]

Does my iMac need to be running in order for Plex to work?

You need a Plex server to be running, somewhere.
Whether it is your iMac, your NAS box, or some other computer, is up to you.

 

[BODYBUILDERPAUL]

My advice is, if it's working great right now, leave it connected as it is.

I've been using Apple HomeSharing since 2012 and it's an absolute nightmare. Totally hit and miss. Sometimes it works with no buffering and other times constant buffering. This evening, we were trying to watch a film over dinner and we've had to turn it off - constant buffering 30+ maybe 50 times. Running around the house, resetting routers, relaunching MacBooks etc whilst the meal was getting cold. Whether it's Wifi to WifI from the MacBook to the Apple T that is getting interference some nights and than not on other nights, I don't know but for me, it's truly 'a bag of hurt'. It's horrible.
My advice - stay away from Apple HomeSharing. It's unreliable and truly ruins the movie experience. Very unApple like. It's damn awful!
Things like this make me wish that i'd stuck with the BluRay!

 

[Longkeg]

Most of my movies are mkv format

The TV will very likely play your mp4 files but it definitely not play the MKVs. To play unconverted MKV files on an TV you will need one of the solutions mentioned here.

Suggestion: keep you present setup as it seems to be working well for you. But whenever/if ever the mood strikes you, download & install the Plex server to your Mac and the Plex app to your TV. Play around with it. You'll very likely be amazed.

 

[The.316]

The TV will very likely play your mp4 files but it definitely not play the MKVs. To play unconverted MKV files on an TV you will need one of the solutions mentioned here.

Suggestion: keep you present setup as it seems to be working well for you. But whenever/if ever the mood strikes you, download & install the Plex server to your Mac and the Plex app to your TV. Play around with it. You'll very likely be amazed.

I’m definitely going to try it. My sister and her family are visiting (leaving this weekend). As soon as they leave, I’m going to fix up the entertain center, paint some things, then try out Plex when all is done.

Appreciate the help again everyone.